It has been said that it is absurd to flush toilets with drinking water. This is not a monumental problem to solve if wastewater from the toilet is treated at the point of generation, commonly referred to as the “CRADLE” and then recycled and continually reused as flush water. If a system existed that could be installed at homes, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, apartment complexes, buildings and hospitals then an emerging wastewater problem, Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) could be stopped in its tracks since a majority of PPCPs are flushed down a toilet. The US EPA has dedicated a website to PPCPs due to the unprecedented problems associated with the release of PPCPs into receiving waters from WWTPs and Agriculture facilities. See http://www.epa.gov/ppcp/
Garbage is another problem associated with residential homes, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, apartment complexes, buildings, hospitals and industrial complexes. Landfills are not a sustainable solution to garbage. Many households and institutions have garbage disposals for grinding food waste, which is then sent to a wastewater treatment plant (“WWTP”). This is a waste of a potential fuel source since additional energy in the form of wastewater pumps are used to transfer the ground food waste, a potential energy source, to it final destination.
Wastewater treatment plants are finding it more difficult to dispose of biosolids. Likewise, many wastewater treatment plants are switching from chlorine to UV lights for disinfecting wastewater effluent. In addition, it has been estimated that upwards of 60% of the total power consumed at WWTPs is for aerating wastewater. WWTPs are in dire need of a system which can couple dewatering, gasification and/or combustion of biosolids with a means for providing UV light or ozone disinfection in combination with a means for aerating wastewater.
On an Industrial World Class Size scale, the upstream oil and gas industry is unsurpassed when it comes to equipment size for solids/liquids separation as well as difficult to treat wastewater. In particular, unconventional oil and gas resources, such as the Canadian oilsands has created a massive environmental problem with tailings ponds. Likewise, in situ oilsands development, such as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (“SAGD”) is in dire need of an all electric water and solids waste treatment system. In order to produce steam, SAGD facilities burn natural gas. Since this is viewed as unsustainable SAGD operators are in dire need of a relatively simple and low cost gasifier for converting bitumen into synthetic gas (Syngas) which is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Typically, at SAGD facilities the fuel gas (natural gas) is fired in boilers, heat recovery steam generators (“HRSG”) and gas turbine cogeneration units in order to produce electricity and steam for recovering bitumen. This practice is viewed by many environmentalists as using a clean burning fuel, such as natural gas, to produce “DIRTY OIL.”
Furthermore, drilling oil and gas wells produces a solid waste known as drill cuttings. Drill cuttings are typically disposed of either in injection wells or landfills. Offshore, drill cuttings may be dumped overboard if the retention on cuttings (“ROC”) of drilling fluids is less than the maximum regulatory limits. A particular unconventional gas resource is shale gas. Shale gas wells must be hydraulically fractured and propped open in order to produce the well. Thus, extremely large volumes of water is combined with proppants and “frac fluid” packages. However, the well returns a portion of the water in combination with salts, proppant fines, gels and guars. The return flow is commonly referred to as Frac Flowback.
Two of the largest unconventional gas plays in the United States are the Haynesville Shale, located in North Louisiana, and the Marcellus Shale located primarily in Pennsylvania. The major drawback and deterrent to drilling shale gas wells is treating the Frac Flowback. In addition, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico has led to the formation of the Marine Well Containment Company by ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell. They funded $1 billion for accelerating the engineering, construction and deployment of equipment designed to improve capabilities to contain a potential future underwater blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. ExxonMobil will lead this effort on behalf of the four sponsor companies. Without any doubt there is a DIRE need for deepwater subsea processing in addition to alternatives for preventing a blowout as well as treating submerged emulsions.
According to a National Research Council report, the U.S. coal industry discards annually 70 to 90 million tons of fine refuse to slurry impoundments. Dewatering coal fines is energy intensive. With the push for Clean Coal, many coal enthusiasts are advocating coal gasification. A coal fines dewatering and gasification systems could help usher in Coal Gasification. Likewise, another industry which produces a solid carbon waste can be found within refineries. The end result of coking crude oil is the formation of coke. One of the most useful products for coke is manufacturing carbon or graphite electrodes. A form of gasification, steam reforming, would be a preferred choice for converting pet coke to syngas if coupled to a water treatment means for production of the steam.